2nd Challenge Filed To Arkansas Medical Lawsuit Limits Measure

Opponents have asked Arkansas' highest court to block votes for an initiative to limit damages awarded in medical lawsuits, the second challenge filed against the proposed ballot measure.

The Committee to Protect Arkansas Families on Thursday asked the state Supreme Court to bar election officials from counting any votes cast for the proposed constitutional amendment. The proposal would allow the Legislature to cap non-economic damages awarded for medical injury against health care providers, with a minimum cap of $250,000.

The lawsuit accuses the group behind the measure of not complying with restrictions on paid canvassers and is challenging the signatures submitted. The suit also calls the ballot title misleading to voters.

The Arkansas Bar Association filed a separate complaint with the court earlier this week challenging the proposal.

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Arkansas voters will get a chance to decide in November whether or not to allow three casinos to operate in three border counties. Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office on Thursday validated the over 84,000 signatures needed to qualify the constitutional amendment for the ballot.

Robert Coon, the spokesperson for the ballot committee Arkansas Wins 2016, says the group is ready to shift from signature gathering to voter turnout.

Republican Party of Arkansas Chair Doyle Webb is calling on state House candidate Jim Hall "to resign his candidacy" following an appeals court ruling affirming harassment charges. Hall, a Republican from Monticello, maintains his innocence and says he won't step out of the race even though he faces jail time.

"I am not guilty and if I have to vote absentee from the jail I will do it. But I refuse to withdraw from this race," Hall told KUAR News.

In a statement, Chair Webb said Hall should get his personal life in order.

Proponents of legalizing alcohol sales in a handful of Arkansas counties are leading petition drives to put the wet/dry question on the November's ballot. The groups are also getting some financial assistance from the world's largest retailer.

Ballot Question Committees in six Arkansas counties and one city are trying to legalize alcohol sales this election cycle. Crawford, Independence, Johnson, Little River, Yell, and Randolph counties as well as the town of Farmington in Washington County have active drives.

So far, voters in Johnson and Little River Counties and in the city of Farmington will get to decide on allowing alcohol sales in their areas in the November 8th general election. But voters in other areas of Arkansas with similar drives may not, as various alcohol petition campaigns have been beset with organizational or statutory challenges.

Petitioners for wet-dry local option drives needed to successfully submit signatures from 38 percent of registered voters in the areas affected to their county clerks in order to get the alcohol measures on the ballot.